Pony.ai raises $267m through C funding round

Autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai has raised $267m in a ‘C’ funding round, which was led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board’s Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP).

TIP primarily focuses its investments on companies that have the potential to create disruptive technologies.

TIP senior managing director Olivia Steedman said: “We see a significant global opportunity for autonomous vehicle technology.

“Pony.ai’s leading technology and deep, strategic understanding of the sector have helped to position the company as a leader in this space.”

Existing investors, including Fidelity China Special Situations, 5Y Capital, Clearvue Partners and Eight Roads, also participated in the funding round.

Pony.ai’s accumulated capital raised is more than $1bn and its valuation is now over $5.3bn.

Pony.ai CEO James Peng said: “Pony.ai is approaching its mission of delivering autonomous mobility everywhere by building technology that allows vehicles to drive safely on public roads.

“With new investments that support our growth and deepened partnerships with our existing investors, we are quickly advancing toward future mobility and bringing autonomous vehicle technology to the global market.

“We are honoured to welcome new partners to join our mission of delivering autonomous mobility on a global scale by building safe and reliable self-driving vehicle technology.”

In a separate development in the autonomous vehicle sphere, the Ipswich Connected Vehicle Pilot (ICVP) in Queensland, Australia, has begun with up to 500 vehicles being fitted with Cohda’s MK5H On-board units.

The ICVP is claimed to be the largest connected intelligent transport vehicle trial in Australia.

The MK5H On-board units allow vehicles to communicate with each other and with roadside infrastructure.